It's game day!
The Vancouver Canucks open their regular season tonight at the newly-renamed SAP Center at San Jose—the Shark Tank. The game will be the Canucks' first chance this year to avenge their four-game sweep at the hands of the San Jose Sharks in last year's playoffs.
Vancouver had the Sharks' number for several seasons but the tide turned last year. In 2011-12, the Canucks went 3-0-1 against San Jose but last season, the Sharks won all three regular-season matchups as well as all four playoff games.
The trend continued in exhibition play this year. The Sharks beat Vancouver 3-2 on September 17 at Rogers Arena before handing the Canucks a 5-0 drubbing on September 25 in San Jose.
It's a pattern that John Tortorella and his team would like to reverse as soon as possible as the teams will see each other often in the early going. Vancouver will complete its four-game season series against San Jose by November 13. The Canucks and Sharks are also now rivals in the new Pacific Division, so head-to-head points matter more than ever in determining playoff positioning.
Despite all the talk of change in Vancouver this summer, the Canucks' opening-day lineup won't look much different from last season. Zack Kassian is suspended so he won't get a chance to skate with the Sedin twins. Instead, Alex Burrows returns to his usual spot on their right side.
The Canucks are carrying just twelve forwards, so we know that newcomers Zac Dalpe, Mike Santorelli and Brad Richardson will all play. I won't worry too much about line combinations as they're likely subject to change at this early stage of the season.
On the blue line, Brad Ziemer of the
Vancouver Sun reports that we'll see Kevin Bieksa with Dan Hamhuis, Jason Garrison with Alex Edler, and Chris Tanev with new arrival Ryan Stanton.
It feels strange not to be wondering who will start in goal. Roberto Luongo is back to being No. 1 and is expected to carry most of the load.
New coach John Tortorella took his time implementing his system during preseason, so tonight's our first chance to see if the Canucks really do play a different game, collapsing around the net and clogging up shooting lanes.
Luongo
said all the right things about the new system to Iain MacIntyre of the
Vancouver Sun:
I think, at the end of the day, we’re really worried about the pucks laying around the crease, the slot area. We don’t want pucks in there. Those are the most dangerous shots out of any, if you ask me. So if we can eliminate those and I have to fight a few more screens per game, I’ll make that trade any day.
As for the Sharks, they're looking to build on a strong 2012-13 season. Trade deadline acquisition Raffi Torres is on the shelf after knee surgery, but buzzsaw Tyler Kennedy has played a similar role in presason. At just 19, rookie Tomas Hertl had an impressive training camp and will likely start his NHL career on a line with Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. Matt Nieto and Freddie Hamilton are also likely to make their NHL debuts.
The road to recovery from a difficult 2012-13 season begins for the Canucks tonight at 7:00. Watch on TSN in Canada or Comcast Sportsnet California.
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